One More Night
Chapter Eight
Bella screeched as the sudden pain hit, her child kicked her spine and it snapped in two, her back twisting. She started to fall, unable to hold herself after that terrible tragedy, and Jacob quickly caught her, pulling her into his arms quick.
"Bells?" He was intensely worried the moment he heard the crunch of her bone breaking and she whimpered, unable to speak, and he nodded. "It's time, now." Every ran up the stairs, except for Paul. He really did not want to see what was about to happen.
Alice quickly got on her phone and called Carlisle as Jacob gently laid Bella on the hospital bed he had put there just for this. The concerned wolf stroked her hair lovingly as she squinted, her muscles tensing.
"Bells, say something, please." She nodded as she groaned, speaking through gritted teeth.
"It hurts." He nodded before he kissed her forehead.
"I know. We are going to get the baby out and we will figure out some way to fix that, okay?" She nodded as tears fell.
"Jake?" She struggled to speak as Rosalie prepared the tools and he sweetly kissed her forehead. "I-I can't move my le-legs." She alerted him to the serious repercussions of what their child had done and he sighed.
"It's going to be okay." She groaned as she balled up her hands into fists from her intense pain level.
"I can feel them, but I can't move them." He nodded before he looked to Alice who put Carlisle on speaker phone.
"Carlisle is on his way, Bella." She nodded while she focused on Jacob's face to try to distract herself from the pain.
"Bella, can you hear me?" She nodded as Jacob took her hand in his, letting her squeeze it as hard as she needed. "Listen, your placenta has detached." She nodded as Rosalie shot Bella in the leg with morphine, getting a loud groan from her. After a moment, it rid her body of the pain from her broken spine. "This is going to be very fast because they have to hurry to get your child out. I'm trying my best to get there as fast as I can. Just trust them for now. I will be there soon." Rosalie quickly grabbed the scalpel to cut her open, but Edward grabbed her wrist.
"Give her a few minutes to numb up first." She growled at him.
"The placenta is detached, Edward! That baby is dying in there!" That was something that pushed the protective mother in Bella forward with full force.
That baby is dying in there! The words repeated rapidly in her mind before she groaned.
"I don't care about my fucking pain level! Get him out, now!" Bella screamed at Edward and Rosalie took her arm back before she cut across Bella's abdomen. Bella let out a loud scream full of pain and torture as she did and the force of her grip was close to being enough to crush Jacob's hand. With his free hand, he turned her face to him, trying his best to help her however he could.
"Bella, look at me. Focus on me." She screamed louder as her torso arched off the bed in physical horror. The pain was way worse than when she had venom in her blood. Nothing could compare to how it felt to have her insides torn open and stretched.
Jacob looked down to Bella's stomach to see Rosalie staring at her hands covered in blood. Thinking quickly, Jacob released his hand from Bella's and pushed Rosalie out the door. Leah ran out and dragged Rosalie from the house to get control of herself.
"I've got it, Jacob. Bella needs you." Edward spoke as Alice stood by his side and assisted him through what he was doing. Jacob quickly returned to his pain ridden girlfriend, taking her hand back.
"I'm right here, Bells. Listen to my voice, okay?" She nodded as she groaned, feeling Edward moving her organs around.
"You have no idea...how weird it feels...to have someone...moving your organs." He chuckled while he stroked her hair.
"Don't worry. It will all be over soon." She shivered as she struggled to regulate her breathing.
"Shit!" Edward exclaimed before Jacob snapped his eyes to him. "The placenta is too thick for tools. Don't kill me for this." Edward warned Jacob before he bit through the placenta and Bella let out another loud scream, arching her body away, before she relaxed and the room filled with a baby's cry.
Jacob quickly looked over as Edward pulled out a small child covered from head to toe in blood, wrapping it in a towel.
"Bella?" She looked over to Edward as her breathing evened out, her eyes looking fragile. "It's a girl. It's Vanessa." Her and Jacob both smirked.
"Let me see her." Edward walked around the opposite side of the bed and laid the infant in her arms. She gazed down at the child while wiping her face with the towel to get a good look at her features.
She had Jacob's nose, jawline, and raven hair while she had a mixture of their skin tones. The baby had Bella's chocolate brown eyes when she opened them up, looking at her mother. She also had Bella's cheek bones.
"Hey, you." Bella said to her and Jacob looked over at their daughter, just as mesmerized by her. "Hi, Vanessa. So, you're the one who broke my rib?" Jacob chuckled as he kissed Bella's temple. The newborn opened its mouth, her tongue falling out of her supple lips, and looked between her mother and father.
"You are so perfect." Jacob said and Bella giggled, rubbing the baby's forehead. "She is just perfect." Edward smirked at the scene before him, watching the happy family together. "I'm the one who has been warning you to behave in there." Bella took a deep breath before laying her head on his shoulder. "Are you feeling okay, Bells?" She nodded with a weak giggle.
"I feel fine now. Just a little tire…" Her voice trailed off slowly and he looked to her, seeing her exhale one last breath, light starting to leave her eyes.
"No, Bella! Don't you dare!" He exclaimed as Edward took the baby back from Bella's arms. Alice extended her arms to him and he placed the newborn there who suddenly started crying.
Jacob frantically started compressions on her chest, seeing her dead eyes open, staring off into space.
Edward rummaged through a drawer in the hospital bed for the thing they desperately needed to save Bella's life.
"What the hell are you doing! Change her already!" Jacob growled at him as he struggled to pump the life back into her and Edward pulled out the large syringe. "What the hell is that? Adrenaline?" Edward shook his head before stabbing it into Bella's heart.
"It's my venom." Edward pushed the lever down until all of it was inside of her instead of the tube and nothing happened. Jacob became panicked as he restarted the chest compressions again.
"Why the hell isn't it working!" She couldn't die! Not like this and definitely not now!
"Because her heart isn't pumping, Jake. The venom needs to make its way through her system before it will change her. Just, don't stop the chest compressions until you hear her scream. When she screams, that will be all you need to know it is working." He nodded and panted as he pressed on her chest each time.
"Come on, baby. Breathe. Scream. Wake up. Do something." He struggled with this as Edward and Seth left the room. Rosalie and Leah ran up to them as Seth had tears in his eyes.
"Where is the baby? Where is Bella and Fido?" Rosalie asked and Edward sighed.
"I didn't have the heart to tell Jake, but there is no way Bella is getting out of the state she is in. It was too late. We didn't inject her with the venom until her heart already stopped. The light already left her eyes. She's gone." Leah gasped as she looked up at the room.
"Oh, God. Where is the baby?" Rosalie asked and Alice called out from the living room where she sat in front of the fireplace.
"I'm in here with the baby!" Seth, Leah, Rosalie, and Edward walked into the living room, all with sadness in their stare, before Alice approached. "Is it true? Bella can't be dead!" Alice protested and Edward sighed.
"I'm sorry, Alice, but I'm afraid she is. I don't think all the venom in the world could bring her back. It's my fault. I should have had the venom out and ready for when this little one came out, but I got caught up in the whole sight of seeing Bella meet little Vanessa here that I forgot for a moment that she was bleeding out." Seth walked closer to Alice to get a glimpse of the baby girl in her arms. Alice smirked at the young wolf before cooing at the baby.
"Little one, some people want to meet you." Alice talked with a little baby voice towards Vanessa before rubbing her chubby cheek. "We have Seth, Leah, Rose, and Edward here, but you already met Edward." Alice teased the baby before she handed the darling to Rose who gasped at the beauty.
"Well, hello, there." Rosalie cooed her, getting a raspberry blown at her. "Oh, I see! You already know how to stick your tongue out at someone. You are one smart cookie!" Rosalie kissed the infant's forehead. "We have all been just dying to see your pretty face." Rosalie giggled before she handed the baby to Leah who smirked at the baby who looked to her with amazement.
"Yes, you don't know me, do you?" Leah spoke to the child clearly and cheerfully, like the old Leah would have, before she clicked her tongue. "I can see both your mommy and your daddy in you, sweetheart. You definitely have your daddy's pout." Leah mimicked the face the newborn made and everyone in the small circle laughed. She turned to her brother so he could see the newborn and he gaze to her eyes before he gasped aloud.
Everything faded to the background until all he saw was her, this small child who had been born no more than ten minutes ago. He saw momentary flashes of the future, a future with this beautiful, sweet, brown-eyed girl by his side. Then, his own voice boomed in his head.
It's like gravity. Earth doesn't hold you to the ground anymore. You would be anything. A protector. A friend. A lover. Whatever she needed, you would be. She would be...your imprint.
Edward gasped as he saw this happen in Seth's head and everyone looked to him befuddled.
"Seth? You alright, bro?" Edward gulped as Seth dropped to his knees, a look of disbelief on his face.
"He-he...imprinted on her." The whole room filled with a loud gasp from them all as Leah knelt next to her brother.
"Breathe, Seth." He took a deep breath before he looked at the baby in his sister's arms.
"Wow. I didn't know it would feel like that." He whispered to himself before he stroked the child's cheek, getting a big smile from the toothless baby. She cooed at him and he smirked. "Hey, Vanessa. You are so beautiful." She squeaked in her chest as she giggled.
Suddenly, Edward heard the sounds of the approaching wolves thoughts.
"Sam's pack is coming. We have to protect Vanessa." Leah handed the infant to Rosalie who held the child protectively to her chest while Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Leah ran outside.
Seth tried to get up, but he didn't have the physical strength yet. Imprinting was physically draining for any wolf, but his imprint was a lot more powerful.
As soon as the bunch got to the porch, the wolves launched through the trees. Leah phased and attacked as the others did. She bit at Quil's leg as Sam went for Edward, Embry for Alice, and Jared for Jasper.
Leah had him pinned and warned him to stand down as she saw Sam had Edward pinned down, trying to bite his head. Edward had him just at arm's length, but his grip was weakening.
Leah quickly kicked Quil away before she pushed Sam off of Edward.
Leave him alone! She snarled at Sam who returned it back at her. Edward quickly went at Quil.
Why do you care about them? You hate the Cullen's! You always have! He went on the attack and she snapped at his leg before snarling.
I don't hate them! I love him! She let it slip before she realized what had come out and, when Sam was shell-shocked, she bit a chunk out of his shoulder with ease.
Soon, Seth regained his strength and ran outside as Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett arrived back at the house.
"Stop this!" Seth said before he ran to Sam, kicking him away from his sister. "This stops now, Sam! I will kill you if I have to!" Sam growled at the young wolf. "You aren't going to hurt her, okay! Do you hear me! You kill that baby, you kill me!" Sam head-butted Seth which sent him flying into a phase before he ran back to Sam snarling. You can't hurt her, Sam! I imprinted on her! She is Jacob's daughter! He flashed to Sam his memory of his imprint and it was very powerful, indeed.
Sam stepped back as his snarl disappeared and his Alpha stance lowered, bowing to Seth for standing up for his imprint.
"What did we miss?" Emmett asked Edward who had a happy smirk on his face when Jared, Sam, Quil, and Embry all backed away.
"Seth imprinted on Bella's daughter. They can't touch her. Above everyone else, an imprint is to be protected and never harmed. It's their most unbreakable rule. Anyone who harms an imprint is to executed on the spot and none of them want to die today for breaking that rule." Edward stated smugly as those wolves ran off, leaving the Cullen's, Seth, Paul, and Leah there.
Leah felt sadness fill her as she remembered what she had said to Sam before she looked to Edward who had longing in his eyes as he looked to her. She turned away and ran into the woods.
"Leah!" He called to her, but she was gone, too far away to even hear him.
Jacob continued his chest compressions on Bella while his tears spilled down his face.
"You can't do this to me." A sob escaped his lips as he looked at her lifeless eyes that stared off into space. "I can't handle a world without you, Bella. You need to live. I don't care if it's as a vampire, but you need to live. For me and for our daughter." He cried as he did a few more compressions and then, it finally happened.
While Jacob pumped the venom through her flimsy veins, their daughters blood lingered and the venom connected to said blood. It created a chain reaction within her, Vanessa's blood attaching itself to Bella's blood. As soon as this happened to all of her blood, Bella's eyes widened, life coming back to her eyes, and an ear-shattering scream ripped through the air, Bella arching intensely. Her cries got louder and louder as Jacob sighed, moving back away from her. The door slammed open as Carlisle ran in with Esme and Edward by his side.
"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" Bella screamed as her body convulsed and Carlisle went to her arm, feeling her skin go from normal temperature to burning hot rapidly.
"Oh, God!" He looked to Jacob and Esme. "Hold her down!" They did as he said, each of them taking an arm as she squealed from the torture of the heat spreading through her body. He quickly ran around to gather the vial he needed and syringe before he stuck her in her arm, sending the medicine into her body.
Her cried died down until her breathing even out and her eyes shut, shallow breaths leaving her lips. Her heart beat at a normal pace as her body relaxed, her lips slightly parted.
"How can you knock her out in the middle of a transformation?" Jacob asked as he stroked Bella's hair lovingly.
"She wasn't transforming into a vampire." Carlisle stated as he looked to Edward who gasped from Carlisle's thoughts.
"Are you positive?" Carlisle nodded to Edward's question before Jacob looked to him confused, wiping his tears.
"What do you mean? The venom went through her system and she screamed like Edward said she would." He asked and Carlisle sighed.
"I've never seen this happen before, but it has and I'm glad it did." Jacob was still befuddled.
"What did?" Carlisle took a seat in a chair next to the hospital bed.
"When a woman reaches the end of her pregnancy, her blood mixes with the child she is pregnant with so your daughter's blood still lingered in Bella's veins along with her own." Jacob nodded for Carlisle to continue. "When the venom moved through Bella's body, your daughter's blood countered the venom, given she possess the shifter gene. Have you ever seen what happens to someone who has that gene who is bitten by a vampire?" Jacob shook his head in response. "They shift prematurely." Jacob nodded, unsure of what this had to do with Bella. "To protect Bella from the venom, your daughter's cells latched onto Bella's and ingrained that very gene into her." Jacob gasped before he looked to Bella, seeing her still look as damaged as she had when Vanessa came out, but she looked peaceful.
"Is this even possible?" Jacob asked and Edward chuckled.
"It's never happened before, but yes. Looks like we will have an immortal Bella, just not a vampire Bella." Carlisle seemed pensive for a moment.
"Perhaps she will take on more traits like her daughter. Vanessa doesn't seem to currently possess shifter-like qualities other than her high temperature and rapid growth." Jacob nodded before he kissed Bella's temple.
"I don't care how it happened. All I care about is that she is going to be okay. How long will she be out?" He asked and Carlisle smirked knowledgeably at Jacob.
"Well, she didn't get the gene through genetics so I approximate three days. She will wake once her transformation is complete. Your daughter's cells will keep her alive until then." They watched as her stomach slowly closed up and her spine popped back into place, healing back up. "Wow. Maybe she will wake sooner than expected." Jacob nodded with a small smirk.
Alice came into the room with a happy smile.
"I knew you could do it, Jacob." She playfully punched his shoulder and he chuckled before rubbing Bella's hair. "I can get Bella cleaned up and dressed in clean clothes. We can't be sure when her transformation will finish." Jacob shook his head with a grateful smile.
"Thanks, but I'll handle it. She would probably be mad if you dressed her." Jacob teased the little pixie who roughly placed her hands on her hips, a look of disbelief.
"I will have you know I have an amazing sense of fashion. It's not my fault that Bella does not. That girl has a man's wardrobe!" Jacob rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Still, she is going to be like me and, when she wakes up, she needs to stay as calm as possible or someone could get really hurt. Even if we are all supernatural. We are always strongest right after we shift and we have the least control over our strength. Even the slightest irritation could be catastrophic." Jacob warned and all of them nodded.
"We will do what we can to keep her calm." Esme spoke in a sweet, motherly voice.
"But, it may be inevitable." Alice said as she giggled. "She might just kill Seth." Alice teased and Edward scowled at her. Jacob was completely confused.
"What? Why would she want to kill Seth?" They were surprised that he didn't hear anything outside of that room.
"You didn't hear us talking about it downstairs or the fight outside?" Jacob shook his head before he looked to Bella with tragic eyes.
"I was completely focused on her." They all nodded in understanding. He needed to save his girlfriend from the death brought on by her giving birth.
"Well, a lot happened in that short time." Edward stated truthfully. "Sam and his pack attacked." Jacob looked to him with a shocked gasp. "With Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett off hunting, they thought that their numbers were close enough to being even so they attacked. We were all fighting except for Seth and, if it wasn't for him, we would all be dead right now." Jacob groaned at Edward jumping around it.
"What did Seth do?" He gritted out and Edward nodded towards the door.
"We don't want to give her a reason to kill him the second she wakes up if she can hear us." They all left and stood in the hall.
"Answer the question." Edward groaned before running his hand through his tousled hair.
"Jacob, remember, if it wasn't for this happening, we would all be dead, even your pack. Leah even fought with us." Edward spoke her name with an undertone of longing, but the others ignored it.
"Just spill, already!" Jacob was growing increasing frustrated.
"Seth imprinted…" Edward quickly pushed out and Jacob gasped in disbelief. "...on your daughter…right before Sam and his pack arrived." They were nervous for Jacob's reaction. They worried that, in a sense of fatherly duty, he might hurt Seth, but that wasn't the reaction they got from him.
He groaned and ran his hand through his hair.
"Wow. I'm pissed, but I know that's not something he had any control over. Wait. Where the hell is my daughter?" He asked, last remembering that Alice had her. Alice smirked.
"She is downstairs with Rose." Alice said and Jacob moved between them before rushing down the stairs. He went to the living room to find Rosalie sitting in a rocking chair by a warm fire with Seth and Paul each sitting on opposite sides of her. She was smiling at the bundle of joy in her arms happily.
"Hogging my daughter, Blondie?" Rosalie looked up to Jacob with an appreciative smirk.
"She is just so wonderful. She's a little angel. Such a sweet, smart thing." She looked back down to the child and Jacob was instantly confused.
"What, no snide dog comment?" He tilted his head and she giggled.
"She has an equal amount of you and Bella. She's just so precious…" She looked to him with a snarky smirk. "Except the wet dog smell. She's missing that." And there was the dog comment he was waiting on.
"She is precious." Seth said sweetly as he looked at the newborn and Jacob growled at him.
"If I were you, Seth, I would keep those comments to yourself unless you want to piss someone off about your imprint to her." Seth cowered a little and Jacob extended his hands to Rosalie for his daughter. Rosalie stood up and laid the infant in his strong arms.
"She is very gifted, Jacob. Just be fair warned. Don't drop her." He rolled his eyes, unsure about the gift part, and his daughter cooed at him as he sat on the couch, seeing a big smile.
"Hey, beautiful." He spoke sweetly to the little bundle of joy who giggled, blowing a raspberry at him. "What are you hoping to accomplish with that?" She slowly reached her hand up and gingerly touched his cheek.
His head was instantly filled with dull light, but he couldn't see much more than that. He could hear muffled voices until one came out clear. It was his own voice.
Hello, little nudger. You better be good for your mommy. Then, he felt her joy radiate from her at the sound of his voice before the image in his head turned into his own smiling face next to Bella's right after the baby was born. You are so perfect….I'm the one who warned you to behave. He felt her emotion of pure euphoria at being with her family. The family she had been so impatiently waiting to meet.
She pulled her hand back before he looked at her in disbelief.
"What was that?" Edward strolled over with a smirk on his face.
"She showed you her first memory of you and her memory of you talking to her while Bella was pregnant. She has a gift I have never seen before, but it's precious. You and Bella are both lucky to have such a happy, healthy child." Edward said before he took a deep breath, remembering what Leah had thought during her battle with Sam. "Excuse me." He ran out and Jacob looked in his direction in confusion.
"What is with him?" Jacob asked toward Rosalie who shrugged her shoulders.
"Not sure. He's just all brooding as always." Jacob nodded as he kissed his daughter's forehead.
Now, it was a waiting game, waiting for Bella's transformation to be complete.